UNHCR

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.

Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) at the UNHCR

Promoting livelihoods and economic inclusion contributes to building the resilience and self-reliance of displaced persons, enabling them to meet their needs in a safe, sustainable and dignified manner and preparing them to lead independent and fulfilling lives. UNHCR promotes the right to decent work that includes the opportunity for displaced people to gain a living by work freely in the host countries. The right to work encompasses all forms of work, both independent self-employment and dependent wage-paid work.

UNHCR works directly with governments, private sector, development actors and social enterprises to advance the economic inclusion that entails access to labour markets, finance, entrepreneurship and economic opportunities for all, including non-citizens in addition to vulnerable and underserved groups. The role that SSE can play is essential to achieve economic inclusion and contribute to the self-reliance and resilience of refugees, empowering them to meet their needs in a safe, sustainable and dignified manner while avoiding aid-dependency and negative coping mechanisms. SSE can include refugees in national economies and provide them with decent work. Ultimately, SSE can help refugees to provide for themselves and their families, build their resilience against future crises and better prepare for the future whether they return home, integrate in their country of asylum, or resettle in a third country.

In line with the Global Compact on Refugees, UNHCR works directly with governments, private sector, development actors and social enterprises to advance the economic inclusion that entails access to labour markets, finance, entrepreneurship and economic opportunities for all, including non-citizens in addition to vulnerable and underserved groups. The role that SSE can play is essential to achieve economic inclusion and contribute to the self-reliance and resilience of refugees, empowering them to meet their needs in a safe, sustainable and dignified manner while avoiding aid-dependency and negative coping mechanisms. SSE can include refugees in national economies and provide them with decent work. Ultimately, SSE can help refugees to provide for themselves and their families, build their resilience against future crises and better prepare for the future whether they return home, integrate in their country of asylum, or resettle in a third country.